Three Thanksgiving Turkeys

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we didn’t have any leftover turkey, but we did have three little three year old turkeys visiting. Christie’s birthday is November 28 so we decided to keep Thomas and Gracie for her birthday present. Ryan and Ashley were coming down for the weekend anyway and graciously volunteered to bring them down when they came Friday afternoon. They came in Christie & Joey’s van since they needed to accommodate 3 car seats, luggage and Daisey. We were a little worried that Thomas & Gracie might freak out traveling with Daisey, but she was in the way back part of the van and out of their sight, so all went well. Gracie actually wound up being buddies with her, but Thomas is still not a fan yet.

That afternoon, we just hung out around the house. We weren’t real sure what the sleeping arrangements for the kids would be, but we had sleeping bags and pack-n-plays as options. We did know that we were going to put them at the foot of our bed because there is more room in our bedroom. We decided to try the sleeping bags first because that is easier than putting up the pack-n-plays. (Putting those things up will drive you to drink!) All-in-all it worked out okay. The problem was that they didn’t actually want to go to sleep and were twisting, turning, talking and giggling, so we made multiple trips to tell them to be quite and go to sleep along with various threats. They finally gave up and went to sleep after about 30 minutes or so. Whew!

Saturday morning they all got up around 8:00 as best I remember. After breakfast, we ventured down to the beach to let them romp a bit. The weather was very nice and actually quite warm – not warm enough to get in the water though. However, that did not deter them. Even though we told them countless times to stay away from the water, they managed to get nearer and nearer and eventually they all had wet shoes and pant legs. And to top it off, Miss Gracie tripped and fell flat on her face into the water, but have no fear! Aunt Ashley is as agile as a deer and no sooner than Gracie's face touched the water, Ashley was there sweeping her up and into her arms. I would have EVENTUALLY gone to get her myself ya’ll, but not before I got a picture for the blog!  Besides, by the time I managed to get rolled over onto  all fours, then heft myself up to a standing position, Gracie would have been swept out to sea! There’s a reason (many) you have babies when you’re young. Needless to say, Gracie’s unintentional dip in the water ended the beach trip. Ashley stripped her out of her wet clothes so that she didn’t freeze to death and then had Ryan strip out of his shirt for her to wear and we then headed back to the house where we got them all into dry clothes and ordered some pizza for lunch. Later we crafted some foam Christmas trees and around 1:00 we decided they needed to take a nap.  This time, we felt the pack-n-plays would be the better option for daytime sleeping. The problem with 3 year olds and pack-n-plays is that they are now big enough to climb in and out of them. Not very long after we put them down, Sy came flying through the living room announcing that he had to pee. He did, and we promptly returned him to bed. They were not very interested in going to sleep and were talking, flipping, turning and giggling as usual. They kept this up for a while and finally I threatened to take one of them out of the room if they kept on. I guess they didn’t believe me because they kept it up. Imagine their surprise (especially Gracie) when I wheeled Gracie’s pack-n-play right on out of that room into the other bedroom. Mind you I wasn’t picking on Gracie, she was just the closet to the door. She didn’t cry, but she did start softly singing in her new space. I joked that she was probably singing “nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen” since she had been placed in solitary confinement. Thomas and Gracie eventually fell to sleep but Sy didn’t. We finally got him up, and while laying on the couch with his Daddy, he fell asleep. Shortly thereafter though, the other two were ready to get up! Oh well………

That night, we had smoked pork chops, mac and cheese (at Gracie’s request) green beans and leftover dressing. Gracie said she only wanted mac and cheese, broccoli and carrots and that she didn’t like green beans, but I guess she forgot she didn’t like them because she cleaned her plate! We also made paper bag books for Christie’s birthday. When bedtime came, it was just like the night before - they didn’t want to go to sleep and again giggled, flipped and flopped around and again Sy got up to pee. Eventually, Thomas fell to sleep, but Sy and Gracie wouldn’t, so we got them up and let them stay up for a bit longer. I think it was around 11:30 or so before we sent them back to bed.

The following morning, they all got up around 7:00 and had cereal for breakfast before heading home.

Here are some quotes from them over the weekend. I wish I could remember them all because there were many. All three are funny little characters.

Sy to Thomas – “Thanks Tom” (for some reason, he decided to shorten his name)

Gracie – “Daisey wants to go to the beach”, to which Thomas replied – “Or maybe not”. (Remember – Thomas does not particularly like Daisey.)

Thomas pointing to Gary’s shop – “Is that the golf.” Grandma - “No, that’s the shop”. I have no idea why he thought it was a golf. Maybe because that’s where the golf cart key is kept?

Gracie – “We are having really fun!”

Sy to Gracie – “You don’t tell me what to do – only adults – right Mommy?”

Gracie at dinner - “I wanna get down. I’m not gonna stay here all night.”









October 2011 Vacation

As is our fall tradition, we ventured out once again to the North Georgia and North Carolina mountains to enjoy the beautiful change of season colors. Here on the island, there is very little color change in that we mostly have oaks, pines, sun and sand. The grapevines do afford some change of color, but not enough to satisfy my autumn needs. We headed out on Friday evening and spent our first night in Macon, GA. We arrived the following day around lunch in Hiawassee, GA meeting up with Ryan, Ashley, Sy & Daisey who had been there since Thursday. The rental house is right on Lake Chatuge and although very modest, was nice and the views were awesome! Shortly after we arrived, we had lunch along with live entertainment. Ryan, Ashley & Sy had just had lunch there earlier and joined us so Ashley could get a brownie sundae for dessert. Sy was really digging the band and got down on the floor and did a little jig every now and then or just chair danced. That evening, Ryan & Ashley went to a BBQ restaurant called and we stayed home with Sy and just relaxed. The following day we drove over to Young Harris to visit a small waterfall on the college campus called The Thomaston Road Falls. From there we went to High Shoals Falls near Unicoi State Park. The hike was about 1.2 miles and was a pretty tough hike when you are not used to climbing and descending on rugged terrain filled with roots and rocks. Sy had it made because he mostly rode on his Daddy, Mama or Grandpa’s shoulders. Notice the omission of Grandma? I could barely keep myself from slipping and/or sliding, so I declined not to do any grandson toting. Trust me - this was in his best interest. (When we got back to the house, Ashley noticed that his boots still contained the paper stuffing in the toes, so maybe that is why he didn’t want to walk?) The falls were beautiful and looking back, it was worth the effort. My legs and lungs would probably argue that point though. Ashley and I had to take a “few” (okay about a dozen) breaks due to lack of oxygen, leg or knee pains and luckily there were boulders here and there to accommodate. There was a couple we passed on our way to the trailhead who chose to walk rather than drive across this little creek and who actually passed us coming and going. We obviously suck as hikers, but they did hitch a ride back with us to their car when we left, so that made us feel somewhat better about ourselves. When we returned to the house, Ryan, Ashley & Sy left to go back home. It was about 4:00 p.m. when they left and they made it home around mid-night that night the best I remember. That’s a long ride ya’ll! Sy, the luggage and Daisey were packed like sardines in that back seat too. That night, Gary and I had dinner at the BBQ restaurant. I had baby back ribs, a sweet potato and baked beans and Gary had beef, fries and baked bean. His beef was very dry, but mine was yummy. I had a whole rack, so I shared with him. The restaurant was nice and had brown paper bag placemats, brown napkins and the food was served in these metal pie plate type dishes. When we checked out, they had these cute little pottery pigs and chickens at the register. The pigs were sitting in an uncooked pile of beans (pork & beans) and the chickens sat in a pile of uncooked rice (chicken and rice). Tee hee, hee!

We got a late check-out the next day and eventually headed to Sky Valley (by way of Dillard) around noonish. We met the gang (John, Judy, Steve and Linda) at the Wal-Mart, followed by a stop at Engle’s to stock up on groceries for the week. After that, we rode over to Steve and Linda’s camp site because they left some laundry in the washing machine. This year, we got the bedroom with the twin beds instead of the room with the Queen bed. The beds were different from before in that they were canopy beds, not just twins. They didn’t actually have a fabric canopy on them, just the canopy frame, but the first night I got so flip’n tickled at how funny Gary looked in a twin canopy bed with a girly bedspread that I could NOT stop laughing and even got the walking farts! Well that just made the laughing get even worse and uncontrollable.  Several times after we had settled in, one or the other of us would start laughing all over again. Linda even knocked on our door to see what all the laughing was about! The beds were very comfortable though so we eventually went to sleep and slept peacefully each night thereafter.


Over the course of the next few days, us girls went into Dillard and shopped and had lunch, we all visited Black Stone Mountain State Park and the Firefox Museum. We couldn’t believe we had never visited either one during any of our other visits since they were so close by. We had a nice time at both. Gary and I left on Friday and on the way back we stopped at a nearby fruit and vegetable stand and bought a big ole bag of fresh locally grown cabbage straight off the wagon. The bag had about 12 heads in it and we gave them out as souvenirs when we got home!



Can They Be Three Already?

Thomas and Gracie are now three years old and celebrated with a party at the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science (formerly and much more simply known as the Junior Museum). It was a very beautiful day and the weather was perfect. This was a welcome change to last year’s party that was quite cold and very, very windy! This year’s theme was Cupcakes and Cowboys, so naturally I wore my cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and came prepared to eat cupcakes. Gary, I guess, was not quite in a cowboy kind’a mood and wore shorts and tennis shoes. The party began with the kids romping around the playground as kids are known to do. After the guests all arrived, we went for a walk on the nature trails observing wildlife, such as eagles, turkeys, black bear, fox, squirrels, eagles, vultures, turtles, panther, etc. etc. Upon returning from this adventure, we sang happy birthday to the birthday cowboy and cowgirl and had a bite to eat. We enjoyed sandwiches, chips, fruit, beef jerky, marshmallow “thingys” and of course – cupcakes (remember the theme?). Just before it was time to go (mind you those people will rustle you on out of there too when it comes time for you to get going – they don’t play!), one of the staff members came by to show the kids a red corn snake and she even let those brave enough touch it. I was among those and have the picture to prove it. I ain’t no sissy ya hear! Christie made some really cool stick horses as favors for the kids to take home and decorate and/or use to whack things with. Thomas and Gracie may or may not have done that when they got theirs home. I bet you the ponies are in lock-down right now.  Poor ponies. There was no present opening at the party, but shortly after they got up from their nap and after Joey had returned from re-planting a crop in Monticello, they tore into all their wonderful gifts. I will probably leave something out, but they got guitars, art supplies, clothes, money, a sand table, cars, trucks, crackers, drinks, bubble bath, a toy blower and a doll.

Well now that I have shared the party details, I have to get a little sentimental and say that I just cannot believe Thomas and Gracie are three years old already. It seems like only a short time ago we were at the hospital anxiously awaiting their arrival and now they are three flip’n years old! Where does the time go?! Over those three years, they have developed into two adorable, sweet (most of the time), precious little people. They mean the world to us and we cannot wait to see what the next year brings.

Here are some photos from the day’s events.

A Lesson in Persistence and Perseverance

There are probably many lessons to be learned from wildlife, but one that comes to mind is of persistence and perseverance by a pair of Osprey that chose to nest on my street. Located a couple of blocks East of our home is a pond of sorts with a stand of dead pine trees. I began observing (generally on my way to work) the busy work of nest building in preparation of their expected young. Based on photo dates, this process began in April and all-in-all it seemed to be a fairly speedy process and they were soon finished with the nest. Not long thereafter, we had some very windy weather and the following day on my way to work, I saw that the tree top had snapped and the nest had fallen. On a nearby tree sat one of the Osprey and I could only imagine the dismay, frustration and maybe even sadness it felt. I wondered if there had been any eggs laid yet and felt sure if the birds were to try again, they would hopefully move to an entirely different location. However, much to my surprise I soon witnessed new construction on a nearby tree. I felt a sense of happiness, but at the same time, wondered if they were making a big mistake. All of the trees in the pond were dead and they could very likely lose their nest to wind again, especially since we were moving into the hurricane season. Pretty soon, the new nest was complete and they begin the business of settling in and tending to their eggs. Eventually, the eggs hatched and we would later learn there were 3 chicks. Because the nest was so high up, you really couldn’t see into the nest to see the eggs or the chicks. I only learned there were 3 chicks because once again, the nest was blown down by high winds on June 27. That evening, the entire island lost power due to the downing of two power poles in the bay caused by a waterspout. It was heart wrenching to once again see the parent birds perched on nearby trees and again I could only imagine what they were thinking and feeling. Over the course of several days a group of folks from the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, the National Audubon Society and some locals, banded together to retrieve the nest and chicks and build a platform for the nest.  The remnants of the nest were placed on the platform and two of the chicks were returned to the nest.  One of the chicks was injured and is being nursed back to health rather than being returned to the nest.  It was reported that in no time the parents came back to the nest and are happily still rearing their young. I am now able to see the chicks because they are getting up in size and are hanging out on the edge of the nest. Soon they will be learning to fly on their own and hopefully, the nest will last to welcome a new family next year.

Beginning of 2nd Nest.  The Original Was to the Right of This One.

A Start

One Standing Guard and One Going in Search of More Building Material

Deja Vu?



Let's Not Sing that Rock-A-Bye Baby In the Treetop Song Anymore.

 

I Sure Hope Our Wind Coverage Was Paid Up!



Finished Again

Man Made "Tree"

A Little Weird Kids, But I Think We Will Like It.

 

There Sure Are A Lot Of People Stopping By To See Us Lately.

  

And Over There Kids Is Where Your First and Second Homes Were.



Let Me Tell You The Story of Our Efforts to Get you Here Little Chicks.......

At Ease